Toggle actuated and adjustable mounted pivoted jaw wrench



March 14, 1950 v. s. WARD ErAl. 2,500,590

TOGGLE ACTUATED AND ADJUSTABLY MOUNTED PIVOTED JAW WRENCH l Filed Feb. 25, 194'7 Patented Mar. 14, 1950 TOGGLE ACTUATED AND ADJUSTABLY IIVIUINVIEHB'"PI'VTED JAW WRENCH Ninccntfs. Ward and Gordoni-K.Hurlbut, Bing* hamtonyN. Y., assignors to E. M.. C. Manufac- .turng Go1:n.,.Binghamt0n, N. Y., acorporation -l-Applicanonrebruary25, 1a47,seriar Nn. 730,784

(01.. sii-84) rThis invention relates to f'wrenches, and more particularly to .those of Ythe type disclosed in Patent`No. 2,388,580, .dated November 6,1945, .andise sued to F. A. Snell.

'.In thatzpatent is shown-1a `wrench lin which .la movable jaw is-broug-ht'to a parallelclamping ree lationfwth a flxedzjawmegardless `of thespacing of.theejawsfbyzmovement ofan actuating handle, and :the presentinvention contemplates ,fi-con struction :by means-:of whichsimilar results are obtained throughH a. simplified -and less expensive construction. ..The ipresent invention .relates to improvements in the type of wrench referred to, and it contemplates ythe :provision of a simple, sturdy `mechanism'byifmeans of which a movable jaw may be set at a selected distance from a fixed jaw in --order :to-grip vnanobject of given size, Vand .bymeans of which. saidobiect may be rmly clamped between the jawsbymovementof the actuatinghandle.

One of vthe objects.entire-present invention is to provide a structure of this character in which the number of parts employedis materially `1reduced; "-nosprings'are required, and the 'parts employed are of lsubstantial 'size and strength, thus resulting-'in` a wrench-which is entirelyreliable andunlikely tof'get out `of vorder despite the hard use' whichy -a tool of this character Ais jgenerallyfgiven.

Another "objeotofthe invention is to; provide a novel and-sturdy dmeans* for "the adjustment 'of the movable jaw of the wrench relative to the xed jaw thereof, wherein such adjusting means is disposed longitudinally of the handle portion of the Wrench and is housed therein and is at all times protected by the handle. y

These and other objects are attained by the invention, a more particular description of which will be hereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a wrench constructed in accordance with the invention, the jaws being shown in closed position; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the wrench in a partly open position, with one side of the frame broken away to show the operating parts of the wrench; Fig. 3 is an edge view of the wrench as seen from the left side of Fig. 1, and Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the embodiment of the invention disclosed in the drawing, I indicates the main frame of the wrench, and which may be composed of a single section of heavy sheet metal formed .into channel or .U -shapasubstantially shown in the Crosssectional View of Fig. Il. xed jaw portion located at one end, anda suitablyshaped handle portion Satits opposite jaw yinsert f4 .is provided with a lgripping rface,

whichcan be roughened orserrated as shownat-B. .The movable jaw is shown .at 'I and the same consist-sof a substantially triangular member havinga serratedor roughenedgripping surface..

At one end the movable jaw 'l is .pivoted, as indicated at 9, to a rocking or-.segmental lever I0, pivotedcnpin I .extending between the wallsof the fra-mel. vAt its oppositeeend, the rocking lever Illfis 'pivotal-ly secured by pin I2 to the flattened and offset end ylll of an adjusting link I3. vlftocking,lever Il) is composed of `two com panion plates, as clearly noted in Fig. 3,.and.the flattenedand offset end lll or" the adjusting link I 3, is'pivotally disposed .between said plates onthe pin l2. Similarly, the end. portion of the movable jaw :f1 is pivotally Adisposed between .the plates of leverill on the pini).

The .main ,portion or body of the .adjusting link i3 is cylindrical, as indicated at I5, and this portion I5 is screw-threaded, as at Iii, to thereby threadably engage the internal threads of an adjusting nut I'I. Frame I is notched or cut-out, as indicated at I8 to maintain the nut I1 and permit of its rotation by the fingers to thereby adjust the link I3 longitudinally of the frame I and to accordingly determine the spacing of the movable jaw l from the xed jaw 2 to thus accommodate the wrench to nuts or other objects of various sizes to be gripped between the jaws. It will be `noted that the adjusting link I3 is contained Within and concealed by the frame I and by manual operation of the nut Il is adjusted longitudinally of the frame. The adjusting link is so proportioned that at all times it is wholly contained within the frame, having no parts protruding outside of the same, even when the Wrench is in its fully closed position, as shown in Fig. 1.

At 22 is shown the actuating lever for the wrench, the same being a channel-shaped element provided at one end with a clevis 25stradd1ing an end portion of the movable jaw 'l and being piv The .frame includes a 3 oted thereto by means of the pivot pin 23. The actuating lever 22 is coupled to the frame l by means of a link 20 which has one end pivotally connected to the actuating lever 22 by means of the pin 2l, and has its other end pivoted in the frame l on the pin I9.

It will be seen from the structure described, that when the actuating handle 22 is moved toward the xed handle portion 3 of the frame I, it will cause the movable jaw l, through the arrangement of linkage described, to swing toward the fixed jaw 2 to an extent determined by the angular position of link ID which is controlled by the position of the adjusting screw i 3. The movable jaw l will always assume a position of substantial or very nearly` parallelism to the fixed jaw 2 when the movable jaw 1 reaches the limit of its inward swing and then, when pivot pin 2| passes the over-center position, the parts will be locked in close clamping relation with any object to be grasped between the jaws.

When releasing the object by swinging the handle 22 outwardly, or to the position shown in Fig. 2, and beyond, the lever 22 imparts a swinging movement tc the movable jaw l, thus swinging said jaw about the pivot 9 to bring its gripping face 8 to the angular or open position shown in Fig. 2, permitting the release of the object then located between the jaws.

In the construction described, it will be noted that the use of springs is avoided; that the adjustment of the movable jaw to the fixed jaw is secured by screw-thread means located in the lower part of the handle, allowing an accurate and precise setting of the jaws, and that the number of parts employed, as well as the shape and nature of the same is such that a sturdy and rugged structure results.

What is claimed is:

1. A Wrench including a channelled frame, a fixed jaw at one end of the frame, a handle at the other end, an adjusting link disposed within the frame, and extending longitudinally of the same, said link being threaded at one end, the handle portion of the frame being provided with a notch, an adjusting nut having its axis disposed longitudinally of the handle and located in the notch, said nut being in threaded engagement with the threaded part of the adjusting link, a rocking lever pivoted between the walls of the frame -adjacent to the fixed jaw thereof. one end of said rocking lever being pivotally attached to an end of the adjusting link, the latter end of the adjusting link being flattened and being oset from the threaded portion of said adjusting link, a movable jaw adjustably and swingably mounted with respect to the xed jaw, said movable jaw having one end pivotally attached to the second end of the rocking lever, an actuating lever having an end plvotally attached to the movable jaw, and a coupling link having one end pivotally attached to the actuating lever and its second end pivotally attached to the handle.

2. A wrench including a channelled frame, a fixed jaw at one end of the frame, a movable jaw adjustable and swingable in respect to the fixed jaw, a handle at the other end, an adjusting link disposed within the frame and extending longitudinally of the same, said link being threaded at one end, the handle portion of the frame being apertured, an adjusting nut exposed in said aperture, said nut threadably engaging the threaded part of the adjusting link, a rocking lever pivoted between its ends to the side walls of the frame and positioned between said walls, one end of the rocking lever being pivoted to one end of the movable jaw, the second end of the rocking lever being pivotally attached to the end of the adjusting link remote from the threaded-end of said link, an actuating lever having an end pivotally attached to the movable jaw, and a coupling link having one end pivotally attached to the actuating lever and its second end pivotally attached to the handle.

VINCENT S. VIARD.

GORDON K. HURLBUT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 592,285 Forsberg Oct. 26, 1897 639,812 Jensen Dec. 26, 1899 1,182,815 Swickard May 9, 1916 1,280,405 Collison et al Oct. 1, 1918 2,388,580 Snell Nov. 6, 1945 2,399,454 Snell Apr. 30, 1946 2,420,020 Snell May 6, 1947 2,464,472 Ward et al Mar. 15, 1949 

